Court allows �dirty bomb� suspect to be held

Lower court said Bush administration had to charge or free Padilla

A federal appeals court Friday sided with the Bush administration and reversed a judge's order that the government either charge or free �dirty bomb� suspect Jose Padilla.

The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the president has the authority to detain a U.S. citizen closely associated with al-Qaida.

�The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al Qaeda, an entity with which the United States is at war,� Judge Michael Luttig wrote. �We conclude that the President does possess such authority.�

A federal judge in South Carolina had ruled in March that the government cannot hold Padilla indefinitely as an �enemy combatant,� a designation President Bush gave him in 2002. The government views Padilla as a militant who planned attacks on the United States.